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Factfulness ten reasons we're wrong about the world - and why things are better than you think
When asked simple questions about global trends -- what percentage of the world's population live in poverty; why the world's population is increasing; how many girls finish school -- we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consis...
| Main Authors: | Rosling, Hans (Author), Rosling, Ola, 1975- (Author), Rönnlund, Anna Rosling, 1975- (Author) |
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| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Flatiron Books,
2018.
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| Edition: | First Edition. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: |
When asked simple questions about global trends -- what percentage of the world's population live in poverty; why the world's population is increasing; how many girls finish school -- we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. Professor and TED presenter Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective, from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don't know what we don't know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn't mean there aren't real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. |
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| Item Description: |
Illustrations on lining papers. |
| Physical Description: |
x, 342 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-325) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9781250107817 1250107814 |
| Author Notes: |
Hans Rosling was a medical doctor, professor of international health and renowned public educator. He was an adviser to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, and co-founded Médecins sans Frontières in Sweden and the Gapminder Foundation. His TED talks have been viewed more than 35 million times, and he was listed as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. Hans died in 2017, having devoted the last years of his life to writing Factfulness . |